Free HVAC Career Tool
HVAC Technician Salary Calculator
Estimate HVAC pay by state, experience, sector, certifications, and overtime — anchored to Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data from May 2025, not crowdsourced guesses. The national median is $61,010; the spread between states is over $36,000.
Built by SubcontractorHub — the software HVAC contractors use to quote, finance, and run every job.
Texas BLS range: median $57,760, 90th percentile $81,860
Anchored at ~50th percentile (median) of the trade
Paid at 1.5× the implied hourly rate
EPA 608 is legally required to handle refrigerant, so it is treated as the baseline rather than a premium.
Estimated total annual pay
$57,760
$27.77/hr straight time
- Straight-time base: $57,760
- Lands at ~44th percentile nationally
- vs Texas median: +$0
- vs national median ($61,010): −$3,250
Built on BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (released 2026), SOC 49-9021. Straight-time figures exclude commission, spiff on replacement sales, vehicle allowance, and benefits — all of which are common in residential service and can add meaningfully to real take-home pay. This is an estimate from public wage data, not an offer.
What HVAC Technicians Actually Earn
Across 409,670 HVAC mechanics and installers, the median annual wage is $61,010 ($29.33/hr) and the mean is $64,780. The mean sits above the median because a long upper tail of controls techs, refrigeration specialists, and service managers pulls the average up.
The percentile spread matters more than the average if you are trying to work out where a specific tech should sit:
- 10th percentile — $40,050: apprentices and helpers
- 25th percentile — $48,360: junior techs running basic calls
- 50th percentile — $61,010: journeyman service techs
- 75th percentile — $77,060: senior techs and install leads
- 90th percentile — $95,210: lead techs, controls specialists, service managers
Highest and Lowest Paying States
Location is the single largest factor in HVAC pay — larger than certifications, and larger than several years of experience. The gap between the top and bottom state is $36,280.
Top 10 by median wage
- District of Columbia — $84,390
- Alaska — $77,430
- Illinois — $77,410
- Massachusetts — $77,300
- Connecticut — $76,610
- Minnesota — $76,350
- Washington — $75,660
- North Dakota — $74,490
- New Jersey — $74,450
- New York — $74,430
Lowest 10 by median wage
- Arkansas — $48,110
- Alabama — $48,370
- Mississippi — $48,680
- West Virginia — $48,850
- New Mexico — $50,270
- Wyoming — $54,700
- Tennessee — $55,490
- Idaho — $56,240
- Georgia — $56,390
- South Carolina — $56,610
One caution: several high-traffic salary sites publish HVAC figures well above these. One widely-shared page claims Hawaii pays $112,300 — the actual BLS median for Hawaii is $65,450. If a number looks surprising, check the BLS series before you build a pay band around it.
How This Calculator Works
Rather than invent multipliers, the experience tiers are anchored to real BLS numbers at both ends of each state's own range. We pull the median and the 90th percentile for all 51 states, so a senior tech in Illinois is priced against Illinois' own spread ($77,410 to $117,550) rather than against a national ratio. Apprentice and junior tiers use the national lower-tail ratios, since BLS does not publish state-level 10th and 25th percentiles in this series.
Sector and certification premiums sit on top, and overtime is added at time-and-a-half on the implied hourly rate. Because those premiums stack multiplicatively, they can price a senior specialist above what anyone in the state actually earns — so the result is capped at the state's 90th percentile, and the tool says so when the cap binds. BLS publishes nothing above the 90th percentile, and extrapolating past it would be making numbers up.
What the model deliberately excludes: commission and spiff on replacement sales, vehicle allowance, tool allowance, and benefits. In residential replacement work those can be a large share of real earnings, which is exactly why base-wage comparisons often understate what a strong selling tech takes home.
What Moves a Technician Up the Curve
The jumps between percentiles are not evenly spaced. Getting from the 10th to the 25th is mostly time and reps. Getting from the 50th to the 75th — a $16,050 move — usually takes one of a few specific things:
- Moving into controls or refrigeration. Building automation and commercial refrigeration are the two highest-paid technical tracks that do not require leaving the tools.
- Getting comfortable selling. A service tech who can present a replacement option well earns commission that base-wage tables never show. This is the largest single swing factor in residential.
- Taking commercial maintenance contracts. Commercial work pays 8–12% above residential and the schedule is more predictable.
- Relocating. Unglamorous but true: the state gap is larger than most promotions. A journeyman moving from Arkansas to Illinois gains about $29,300 at the same experience level.
From Load Numbers to a Signed Proposal
If you run the company rather than the truck, the pay curve above is a hiring and retention problem. The techs at the 75th percentile are the ones who can present a replacement option at the kitchen table — and that is as much about the tools you hand them as their experience. SubcontractorHub gives techs branded proposals, embedded financing, and good-better-best options on a tablet, so closing does not depend on paperwork skill.
Book a DemoFrequently Asked Questions
How much does an HVAC technician make in 2026?
The median annual wage for HVAC mechanics and installers is $61,010, or $29.33 per hour, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025. The bottom 10 percent earn under $40,050 and the top 10 percent earn over $95,210. Pay varies by more than $36,000 between the highest-paying state (District of Columbia, $84,390) and the lowest (Arkansas, $48,110).
Which state pays HVAC technicians the most?
By BLS median annual wage for May 2025, the District of Columbia leads at $84,390, followed by Alaska ($77,430), Illinois ($77,410), Massachusetts ($77,300), and Connecticut ($76,610). Note that several widely-cited salary sites report figures far above these — one claims Hawaii pays $112,300, where the actual BLS median for Hawaii is $65,450. Always check the underlying BLS series.
How much do HVAC apprentices make?
HVAC apprentices and helpers typically earn near the 10th percentile of the trade, which is $40,050 per year nationally, or about $19.25 per hour. In lower-wage states this can start closer to $32,000–$35,000, and in the highest-paying metros an apprentice may start above $50,000. Most apprentices move toward the 25th percentile within two to four years as they take on unsupervised service calls.
Do HVAC technicians earn more in commercial or residential work?
Commercial and light industrial work generally pays 8 to 12 percent above residential service, and specialised tracks pay more still — commercial refrigeration and building automation controls are typically the highest-paid technician roles outside of management. Residential service can close the gap when commission or spiff on replacement sales is included, which base-wage data does not capture.
Is HVAC a growing career field?
Yes. BLS projects employment of HVAC mechanics and installers to grow about 8 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average across all occupations, with roughly 40,100 openings each year over the decade. Most openings come from replacing technicians who retire or move into management rather than from new positions.
How is this HVAC salary estimate calculated?
It uses BLS OEWS data for the state you select, anchored at both ends of that state's own range — the median and the 90th percentile are real BLS figures for all 51 states, so a senior tech in Illinois is priced against Illinois' spread rather than a national ratio. Apprentice and junior tiers use national lower-tail ratios, since BLS does not publish state-level 10th and 25th percentiles in this series. Sector and certification premiums apply on top, overtime is added at 1.5x the implied hourly rate, and the result is capped at the state's 90th percentile because BLS publishes nothing above it. It is an estimate built on public wage data, not an offer.
Quote, Finance, and Install Every System in One Platform
SubcontractorHub is the platform HVAC contractors use to turn sizing numbers like these into a branded system proposal, financing the homeowner can accept at the kitchen table, and a job the install team can schedule — without re-entering anything. This tool is free to use; the platform is here if you want a closer look.
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